The Rottweilers of Abby's World - the original web site.

This is Mocha: our first Rottweiler.  

This is a photo of Mocha when she was 6-months old, taken three months after coming to her new home. There is something about this picture that reminds me of a centerfold pose in a men's magazine. Because of this, I call it Porno-Puppy. Mocha quickly became part of our family, soon after we brought her home. At first, she had difficulty climbing the stairs to the bedrooms on the second floor. But now she sleeps on my bed every night and snuggles up to me for companionship. (photo taken early 1996) 

Mocha, affectionately called Mo, has been my friend and companion since the day she was given to me by my daughter who owned her parents, Nikko Bear and Felony. We never owned a Rottweiler before and knew little about them except for the bad publicity they received in the news media. I did not believe all of those stories because my daughter had four small children in the house when she was given Nikko and Felony by a couple who were getting divorced. We had seven cats living in our house when Moe arrived, and she had never seen one before. Six of them came down with us from New York, and were getting on in years. The youngest were Butch and Jones, a pair of twin red tigers, and they were 14-years old when Mo arrived.

This is Butch introducing himself to Mocha. It didn't take long for this brave little cat to make friends with the puppy. Moe was just as curious about this friendly little critter and enjoyed giving him little kisses and ear washes. Butch was always known as the ambassador cat, because he would be the first to make new friends. He taught Moe that cats can be friends, too. Butch and his brother Jones both passed away in 1997, they were very close to each other and died 6-months apart. (photos taken early 1996)

The arrival of Nikko and Felony.

As fate would have it, 7-months after we brought Mocha home, we learned that her parents, Nikko Bear and Felony, needed a new home. We didn't know there was an organized nation-wide rescue program for Rottweilers, but we loved these big brutes from the moment we first saw them and had to give them a place to live. My wife drove back to New York, 12-hours each way, and brought them back to Kentucky. Later, we learned that many people were involved in Rottweiler Rescue because these magnificent brutes are so loving and caring. Click on the "Bumper Sticker"below, to find out more about rescue work from The Rott Bros. Farms.

My wife Jacqueline took this photo at 4 a.m. when she discovered the Three Bears sleeping on the couch. The two older Rotts had not yet found that sleeping on our beds was more comfortable. (photo taken 1996)

This is a photo of Butch working his charm on Nikko Bear soon after he arrived. Nikko and Felony had seen cats before and didn't care for them but it didn't take long before Butch's tenacity overcame their bias. Today, Nikko sleeps on my wife's bed along with our two remaining felines. 

Anyone who is familiar with cats, especially in a multi-cat family, will know that when several cats live together each cat takes on an assigned function. In our home Butch became the Ambassador Cat and this brave little guy took on the task of making friends with the new Rottweilers who had come to live with him. It didn't take long before Nikko and Felony got used to these creatures but actually made friends with them.

When we moved to Kentucky we brought 6 cats with us. A gray tiger cat named Tigger and his twin sons Butch and Rusty. The Tigger family were inseparable and always slept together. Nikko became close friends with Tigger and he had an unusual way of demonstrating it. He takes Tigger's head into his mouth and VERY GENTLY holds it for a few seconds. Tigger does not seem to mind this at all and even accepts the Rottie kisses he frequently gets. The three photos above were taken on April 13, 1999. While not the best quality, they were snapped during an unscheduled show of affection while we were sitting on the couch and I was holding the camera at arms length overhead. Yes, we keep the camera on the end table right next to the couch. Never know when you will need it around here.

A few months after these pictures were taken Tigger passed away. He was 19-years old and had some very special qualities. From the day his twin babies Butch and Jones lost their mother, Tigger was their constant companion. The three of them slept in a pile every night for 16 years. When the twins died a few months apart two years ago, Tigger never got over the loss. It was then he started looking to Nikko Bear for companionship.

After Tigger died, his best friend, Nikko Bear, spent several weeks looking everywhere around the house for him. We knew then how much Nikko cared for him.

In the beginning ....

This story for us begins in 1995 but it started two years earlier. My daughter Terry, living on Long Island, had been given a pair of Rottweilers named Nikko and Felony. This would be the second home these two dogs would live in, not because they were a problem but because their previous owners loved them so much they cared enough to see they had someone to take them when they could no longer do so. Terry had four small children and these already adult Rottweilers adopted their new home and new family with great enthusiasm and filled it with love. One of the stories she told us was that Nikko would pull the two boys around the house while they sat on a blanket.

In 1995 Nikko and Felony produced a litter of puppies and my daughter asked me if I would like to have one. We drove back to Long Island and got to meet them all and brought our little girl back to Kentucky and named her Mocha and called her Mo for short.

We already had six cats living with us and Mo quickly became part of their clan. It was an interesting experience to see the interaction between them since the cats had never been close to a dog before and Mo had never seen a cat before.

Mo became quite attached to me and followed me everywhere but since I was working a full-time job she spent more time with my wife Jacqueline. Mo was a very smart girl and my wife spent hours training her to do some interesting work. Turns out that "work" was the key word that got Mo excited about doing what she was asked. Mo learned to do pick-ups and delivery, and anytime you dropped something on the floor Mo was ready to pick it up for you. I was in the 2nd floor bathroom getting ready for work one day and called to my wife that I needed a new tube of toothpaste. The next thing I knew Mo was climbing the stairs with the tube inside the cardboard box in her mouth and she looked so pleased making the delivery.

One day we took Mo with us and walked about a half-mile down to the local supermarket and my wife went inside to buy a bag of carrots. On the way home Mo carried the shopping bag in her mouth and more than one car slowed down to take a look.

Six months later .... 

In April of 1996, six months after Terry gave us Mo, she called to tell her mother that she had to move and needed to find a home for Nikko and Felony. Terry was actually in the process of packing boxes with clothes and stuff and transporting them to her new place. Nikko and Felony knew that something was going on and on several occasions Terry would come back to pick up more stuff only to find the two Rottweilers had unpacked the boxes. My wife decided to help and while I remained in Kentucky going to work, she decided to drive back to Long Island, 12-hours 800 miles by herself.  After spending a day helping Terry move she put the two Rottweilers in the back seat of her Ford Escort wagon and drove 12-hours back to Kentucky.

On the momentous day they arrived back home Mo went into her first heat. If you want to know what excitement is about think of the pandemonium of two adult Rottweilers, one an intact male, entering a new home with six cats and a female Rottweiler who just went into heat. Oh, by the way, did I mention that Nikko and Felony did not like cats? 

In the next few days all three Rottweilers made quick trips to the local Vet's office for minor surgery and that ended the mating problem one and for all.

The problem with the cats took a bit longer to deal with.

We made immediate decisions to keep everyone separated until they got used to each other. Dogs, in general, do not hate cats - its just that they are not not used to them. Living together in the same house allowed the two new Rotts to become familiar with the sight and smell of their small, furry neighbors. But I am getting a little bit ahead of myself. 

As soon as Nikko and Felony arrived I began searching the Internet for anyone that would be interested in adopting them. I soon discovered the existence of a nation-wide Rottweiler Rescue and began posting messages on their bulletin board. About 10-12 days after the arrival of Nikko and Felony I was getting inquiries from Alabama, California and Wisconsin. I had exchanged a few phone calls from a lady in Wisconsin and was in the planing stage of setting up a meeting somewhere in between when something strange and wonderful happened. I happened to look into the deep soulful eyes of Mo's mother, Felony and, I swear this is true, I felt something tug at my heart. It suddenly dawned upon me that what I was trying to do was a big mistake. I could never break up this family and give these two Rottweilers away.

The story of The Three Bears begins ... 

In 1996, about a year after we got our three Rottweilers, I created a web site that started to document our life Living With Rottweilers and it was somewhat popular because it showed the true nature of these magnificent beasts. The web site was moved from one ISP to another as time moved on but was accidentally deleted a few years ago. Then along came Google Blogger and the ease of recreating those moments was to good to pass up. As I begin again to write about this I am faced with only one problem. The blogs allow only a timeline from newest entry to old and I am literally beginning to tell this story looking in both directions. One way around this will be to make the entries as a Chapter in the story which can be viewed in the archives. As soon as I get caught up with the last 15 years I will continue the journey on a day to day basis.

Now back to my story …

For some unknown reason many Rottweiler owners like to name their Rotts Bear. Because of this I started calling our Rotts, The Three Bears and gave each of them the surname Bear. Nikko became Nikko Bear, Felony became Felony Bear and their daughter Mo became Mocha Bear. Less than a month after the arrival of Nikko and Felony the cats had lost their fear of the Rottweilers and the Rotts seemed to take the cats in stride as members of the family. I am not an expert on cats but I have read that in a clan of cats each member seems to take on a different task and Butch appeared to be the ambassador. Butch who had already made friends with Mo decided to become friends with our male Rottweiler, Nikko Bear.